Originally Posted by
rjh01
If they really wanted to reduce the number of minor party members they need to have a rule that says a candidate needs a certain % (say close to to a quota) of first preferences otherwise they are eliminated.
I'm sure that the big two would like nothing better than to keep third parties out but it would be too difficult to sell.
Had Turnbull tried to introduce minimum quotas for election to the Senate, Labor would in all probability have sided with the independents to inflict an embarrassing defeat of the bill. It could then campaign in the subsequent election that the LNP was "power hungry and anti-democratic".
Ditto if a future Labor government tried the same thing.